


Furlough

by orphan_account



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, COVID, Drabble, M/M, Renaissance Faire, Texting, furlough, not going to finish, someone take this idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:49:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27587704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Merlin and Arthur work together at Pendragon Parks, a renaissance faire theme park.They get to know each other through texting while quarantined due to Covid-19.(Beginning of a fic i'm not going to finish. Would love someone to use this AU though!)
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28





	Furlough

**Author's Note:**

> My heart isn't in this story anymore. Much much longer notes at the end.  
> But i think i was onto something and would love to see it continued!

Merlin woke up to a flood of text messages and missed calls.

Gwen: OMG did you see?

Will: Hey man, saw the news. Maybe you could come home for a bit? 

Mom: Hey honey. Call me when you wake up. 

Merlin wiped his eyes and sat up in bed, waiting for a news article to load that Gwaine sent him. 

The headline read: PENDRAGON PARKS CLOSE WORLDWIDE DUE TO COVID-19 OUTBREAK. 

He’d heard the rumors at work the past few days. The parks in China had already been closed for a few months. Merlin put his phone down before he could read the article, his mind already going too fast before having his morning coffee. His phone dinged again, and Merlin silenced his phone after reading a similar panicked text from his uncle Gaius. The world could wait for a few minutes.

Merlin sat down at his dining table with his coffee and oatmeal, preparing to read the email from Pendragon Parks. 

_Dear valued employees,_

_Due to the global impact of COVID-19, we have decided to close Pendragon Parks for one month, and will reopen April 15th. This is to ensure the safety of all our guests and employees. You will be paid your average weekly pay._

_You can stay up to date on the employee website. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact HR._

_Stay safe, and see you soon.  
Uther Pendragon.  
VP Pendragon Parks INTL _

Well… that didn’t sound too bad. He could use a month of PTO, if he was being honest. He loved his job, he did, but it took a lot out of him. 

Pendragon parks was a theme park for renaissance faire lovers. More than just a dinner show or traveling faires, the pendragon parks had it all. The iconic camelot castle, with stage shows and dining inside. There was a medieval land, Elizabethan land, and a viking land. Rumors were that the next big project was a pirates’ expansion. 

Merlin was an entertainment assistant, where he would work behind the scenes of shows and help the performers however was needed. It wasn’t a fancy job, but it was fun, and he loved being a part of something that made other people smile. Plus, the benefits were pretty good. 

Most recently, he’d been getting scheduled shifts to help dress the knights of the jousting and sword tourneys. All the other assistants would beg Merlin to take their knight shifts. Everyone would say the knights were too dramatic or too diva, the pace was too fast, the armor too heavy. While the shifts were long and exhausting, Merlin was actually really enjoying these shifts. And…. nobody needed to know that his main reason for enjoying these shifts were the knights themselves. 

The past few months, the performers in medieval land, or Camelot, were really becoming like family to Merlin. Sure, the boys were loud and would tease Merlin, often calling him their servant. But they were kind and the break spaces were always full of laughs. 

Merlin was about to call his mother when his phone dinged.

**Arthur: Hey, crazy news yeah?**

Merlin blinked a few times. Closed out facebook, reopened the app… sure enough, the message was real. 

Not that it particularly means anything for Arthur to message him. They were getting along quite well at work the past few months. Heck, Gwaine messages him all the time.  
But this is Arthur. Son of Pendragon Parks founder, Uther Pendragon.  
Handsome, probably straight, untouchable Arthur. 

_Merlin: Pretty wild. Next time I see you, your head will have shrunk from the lack of people cheering your name._

**Arthur: I can always count on you to check my ego.**

Merlin suspected Arthur Pendragon was the main reason his co-workers hated working the tourneys. Most people would have expected Arthur to work in corporate with his father. Turns out, Arthur’s job is to be the face of the parks. He competes in all the physical tournaments, and always wins. No one will admit it’s rigged, but they all think it. 

Arthur has a pretty big fanbase. We have passholders who come every week to see Arthur compete. And Arthur eats it up. Or atleast… it appears that he does. Gwen, Merlin’s best friend and fellow entertainment assistant, or EA, can’t stand Arthur. She’s always complaining about how long he takes to get ready and how meticulous he is with the costumes. She claims he’s a diva and rude to EAs. Merlin doesn’t see it though. He sees a perfectionist, and someone who cares about the work he’s doing. He doesn’t say this to her though. If she knew that Arthur had just messaged him…. 

_Merlin: Just part of the job description. :)_

Is this flirting? 

_Merlin: But really, I’m sure it’s a lot crazier on your end than mine. I’ll just be reading or playing video games for the next few weeks._

Merlin’s heart was racing, and the sensation was surprising. Of course he’s enjoyed looking at Arthur at work. But to actually be friends with Arthur… or…. Dare he think it… more than? Preposterous. Absolutely out of the realms of possibilities. But.. what if?

**Arthur: Haven’t even seen my father actually. I found out on Facebook. Hopefully my month will be similar to yours.**

Merlin didn’t really know Arthur very well outside of teasing him. There seemed to be an unspoken rule to never bring up Uther around Arthur. Once, Gwaine complained about the pay and the “greedy corporate bastards”. The breakroom was silent for the rest of the day, and Merlin hasn’t heard anyone ever complain about the company in Camelot since. He had to admit, Arthur finding out company information on Facebook fascinated him. 

Somehow, an entire hour had already passed by, and Merlin hadn’t responded to anyone else yet. He sent out a quick, “Yeah, crazy, right?” to everyone. But to Gwen he wrote:

_Merlin: Yeah… and Arthur messaged me about it too._

Gwen: WHAT???!

_Merlin: …...same._

Gwen: WHY????

_Merlin: We’re just chatting about the park closing. He found out on Facebook like the rest of the world._

Gwen: Um… interesting. Keep me updated with that. 

_Merlin: Of course :P_

**Author's Note:**

> SOOO… this story is loosely… inspired by my current situation right now.  
> I work(ed) in entertainment at Disney World and was furloughed in March. (Remember when quarantine was only supposed to be for two weeks and the world was supposed to go back to normal???) The boy i was(am?) crushing on but hardly talked to before, reached out to me and we've been texting everyday for....8 months now. In an attempt to work through my feelings, I started writing this story. THEN, as you may have seen a bit ago, Disney laid off 28,000 employees. Me and all my co-workers. 
> 
> So.... originally i wanted this story to end with them returning to work and living happily ever after. But unfortunately i'll never return to my magical job. I'm fine, i'll be back at Disney eventually just not in entertainment or with my friends. I've held onto this story for quite a while and have tried to change the direction but ultimately my heart isn't in it anymore. 
> 
> But I really enjoy the idea of a permanent renfaire park. Have any of yall been to a medieval times? They’re SO FUN. So i wanted to put this little drabble out there, in the hopes that someone would want to take this setting/AU and write something with it. =D 
> 
> anyways… Kinda wild that I haven’t worked in 8 months now. Merlin fic has REALLY been a source of comfort for me this year. I want to thank all of the authors out there really providing some smiles and good feelings. I’m more of a reader than a writer, but I hope this story could be a distraction from real life for a little bit.  
> If anyone needs a beta or a friend, please reach out! I have plenty of time on my hands at the moment.


End file.
